My Brilliant (or Not-So-Brilliant) Career

[queenbookwench]

Well, it's that time again. After 3 years of graduate school, I am once again contemplating What It Is That I Want to Do With My Life. Normally, one would think that grad. school is supposed to provide an answer to this question--however, I am in an M.F.A. program in poetry, which I entered with the full knowledge that it would not lead directly to a job. Although an MFA is a terminal degree, which means that having one makes you eligible for tenure, most universities still prefer to hire PhDs, except for jobs teaching only writing or composition courses, and those are less common than jobs teaching literature. And they usually want you to have published some pieces, which I haven't yet. So it's a pretty daunting prospect--also, one of the main realizations I have had in the last year or so is that I may not want to teach at the college level, or indeed, at all. So as the school year is winding down, and I get ready to start my job search, I'm going to be posting about my job search and the possiblities I'm considering, as well as what I'm learning about myself along the way. If anyone has helpful advice, feel free to chime in!

Comments

glad to see you back!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I'm sadly lacking in the "helpful advice" category. Though do you think there is a way we could get paid for sitting in Borders and reading comic books? Because when it comes to that -- we rock!

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

The most helpful advice I can think of is to make sure you stay open-minded about what kind of job you're searching for. You don't want to get in a rut where you're so busy looking in one direction that you don't see the wonderful possibilities in another direction.

[queenbookwench.livejournal.com]

yea--I have a problem with that sometimes. If I get really excited about one particular thing, I can totally be MonoFocus Girl. A thing that has tripped me up in the past, but which I am trying to work on.

[ariadnesthread.livejournal.com]

Look at job openings with any and all of the nonprofits in DC. You're a civically- and philanthropically-minded person, you have writing skills, and you can be enthusiastic about programs/efforts you care about. There usually isn't a *ton* of money to be made from those jobs, but they are good experience, and you might get to feel like you're having an impact on something (which I know matters to you).

washingtonpost.com is the obvious place to start, but see if you can find a list of the nonprofits and just surf each one's web site for job opportunities.

[queenbookwench.livejournal.com]

that's an idea--i've looked at idealist.org a couple of times, and they had some interesting stuff.